Beefor

Camp Rockmont for Boys

Strength and Gentleness, Force and Refinement, Mastery of Body, Servitude to God
Location	Black Mountain, NC
Established	1956
Director	Dan Davis
Website	http://www.rockmont.com

Camp Rockmont for Boys is a Christian residential boys summer camp in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Rockmont was founded in 1956 on the former campus of Black Mountain College. Three full sessions, including a 13 day, a 20 day, and a 27 day session, are held each summer, with each full session also being split into shorter sessions, including 6 day or 13 day sessions. Capacity for each session is about 400 boys, with each session varying slightly depending on enrollment.

History

Rockmont was founded in 1956 by George Pickering on the campus of Black Mountain College, which had recently closed. It was founded as a boys-only Christian camp, and carried an American Indian theme. This Native American theme continued until 2000, at which time the theme was dropped.

There have been a few changes in leadership over the years at Rockmont, but the camp is currently run by Dan Davis, who took over the position of Director in 2006 from David Bruce, now the Manager/CEO.

Structure

Age Division

Rockmont is rather large for a summer camp, with around 400 boys per session ranging from ages 6 to 16, so the camp is divided up into different groups based on age. Each boy is placed in a cabin with 7 to 14 boys his age, and 1 or 2 counselors, depending on the age and number of the boys. Campers spend a large amount of time with their cabin, including sleeping with them and eating with them in the dining hall. The cabins are numbered from youngest to oldest, 1 through 40, 6.5 (65), 18.5 (185), 42 and 43. (41 is not a cabin due to a camp story.)

Each cabin is part of a larger "tribe", which generally include 6 to 8 cabins. The 6 tribes, from youngest to oldest, are Buckeye, Birch, Hickory, Hemlock, Poplar, and Sycamore. Tribes often do activities together, and sometimes compete against or with other tribes in games. Each tribe has a Tribal Director (TD) assigned to it, whose purpose is to plan, run, and manage activities within the tribe, as well as to support the cabin staff within their tribe.

Each tribe is also part of another larger camp. The camp is divided into junior camp, better known as Bear Camp, intermediate camp (Deer Camp), and senior camp (Mountain Camp). The Buckeye and Birch tribes make up Bear Camp, the Hickory and Hemlock tribes form Deer Camp, and the Poplar and Sycamore tribes form Mountain Camp.

Sessions

Rockmont is open for 3 sessions each summer, for a total of 9 weeks. The 3 sessions are A session, which is 3 weeks (20 days) long, B session, which is 4 weeks (27 days), and C session, for 2 weeks (13 days).

Each of these sessions is split into two shorter sessions, which campers may attend instead of the full session. A session is split into A1, which is 5 days, and A2, which is 13 days. B session is split into B1 and B2, which are both 13 days, and C session includes C1, which is 5 days.

Experience

The main offices for Camp Rockmont, known as the Ship

Rockmont offers a range of different activities for campers to take part in, from traditional sports such as Soccer and Basketball, to shooting skills such as Archery and Riflery, as well as creative activities like Ceramics and Rocketry. Campers sign up for 6 of these activities before they attend in the summer, and each day visit 3 of their 6 "skills". Beyond that, each day also includes 1 to 2 "tribal activities", which are usually large group games such as Gladiator (Capture the Flag) or Battleball (Dodgeball). Campers also get a free period every day, called Free Swim, and a Rest Period following Lunch.

Rockmont also puts a heavy focus on Christian ideals. Counselors give devotions to their cabins every night, usually talking about a bible verse or telling a personal story relating to it. As well, every morning each tribe participates in a "Morning Watch", in which the tribe sings camp songs, and the Tribal Director gives a devotion to the tribe. Also important to the Christian ideal of the camp is the council system. Every Sunday, each camp gathers at their "council ring" and recognizes campers for ways throughout the week that they grew and became closer to God.

Registration

Camper registration costs about $1200 per week, though this amount varies with the session chosen. Campers never need to pay any money at camp, though they are allowed to use money from an account set up by the parents to purchase items at the camp store.